I'll continue doing that then. Because of a busy weekend, Gent-Wevelgem will not be here until sunday/monday. Look forward, I haven't raced it yet but I sense that O'Grady is gonna have a field day.
no i like the double images, thats the bit that made me put good writing skills, but ive just seen CSC storys done a thousand times before, but yours is up there though.
Yeah, keep going the way it is. The double images are great, and I love the detailed reports. It was admirable how you wrote about Pozzato's superhuman effort, I like your style B)
This is the only story I read regularly and keep tabs on, so keep going!
By the way a 'Pozzato' happened to me in my game only I was Boonen and it was Cancellara who just kept attacking (despite countering with a full bar, +3 day form), I was relaying with Boonen, Steegmans and van Petegem but his lead just grew and grew and grew...
Today another race of ProTour rank of took off. This time from the Basque Country in Spain. It’s a perfect race for the strong men who wants to battle it out in the Ardennes shortly after the end of this race. We’ve just finished Tour of Flanders with a bit of a dissapointing result, and me and 3 other sporting directors are still in Belgium waiting to get underway in Gent-Wevelgem, the second of the three big cobble races. Meanwhile, that race wasn’t until the 11th of April, meaning that we could sit down at the hotel in Gent after finishing training and watch the finale of the first two stages on Eurosport.
Commentator: Welcome to Eurosport for this ProTour race, the Basque Tour. As always we have an incredibly interesting route for you, and it should provide us with a lot of fantastic cycling, as the hilly classics, who will be looking to hone their form ahead of the Ardennes are here, to get peaking just before the fun commences in Holland in a few weeks.
Commentator: We have now entered the final but last climb. Liquigas looking really strong right now. Di Luca’s there, Pellizotti’s there, Bertagnolli is there and I thought I even saw Beltran at the front too. Looking really strong this Liquigas team right now. Fränk Schleck takes the front now, you gotta tip your hat for this guy, he had really had a tremendous season so far. Rebellin tries to stay on him. Kirchen is there too.
Commentator: (A few kilometres later up the climb) Oh look at this, Schleck and Kirchen has gone clear of the pack. I think it’s Rebellin chasing them.
Commentator: Here’s the summit for this luxembourgian duo. Looks like Rebellin has been caught by the pack as they cross about 30 seconds later. Only ten kilometres to go now for these two guys. Fränk is really insisting here, Kirchen looks a bit in pain already, but he should be able to claim this it they are to settle it between them.
Commentator: Schleck and Kirchen is now on the final climb to the finishing line. It’s a short an very explosive climb, it will all come down to who has the most energy. They still lead by somewhat 30 seconds, no doubt now they are gonna settle it between them.
Commentator: There’s the flame rouge, and Schleck takes off. Kirchen can’t follow immediately.
Commentator: 300 metres for Schleck, he has opened a gap now, I think he’ll finish this. He has done, what a great performance yet again by this young man. Schleck takes the first stage of the Basque Tour to win the yellow jersey. Here comes Kirchen, loses 12 seconds on Schleck on that final climb, he really must’ve been cooked out there.
Commentator: That’s all for today, we’ll be back tomorrow with the 2nd stage, so tune in to Eurosport to catch up on all the action here. Goodbye for now.
Basque Tour 2007 – Stage 1 Result | Urretxu > Urretxu – 139 km
1 Frank Schleck TEAM CSC 3h49'30
2 Kim Kirchen T-MOBILE TEAM + 12
3 Davide Rebellin GEROLSTEINER + 23
4 Franco Pellizotti LIQUIGAS + 58
5 Alexandre Vinokourov ASTANA s.t.
6 Rinaldo Nocentini AG2R PREVOYANCE s.t.
7 Alejandro Valverde CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
8 Riccardo Riccò SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
9 Francisco Mancebo RELAX - GAM s.t.
10 Luis León Sánchez CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
11 Tadej Valjavec LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
12 Xavier Florencio BOUYGUES TELECOM s.t.
13 Andrey Kashechkin ASTANA s.t.
14 Thomas Dekker RABOBANK s.t.
15 Samuel Sánchez G. EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t.
16 Matthias Kessler ASTANA s.t.
17 Damiano Cunego LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
18 Bradley Mc Gee FRANÇAISE DES JEUX s.t.
19 Serge Baguet QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
20 Leonardo Bertagnolli LIQUIGAS s.t. 30 Nicki Sørensen TEAM CSC s.t.
35 Andy Schleck TEAM CSC s.t.
74 David Zabriskie TEAM CSC + 3'48
96 Carlos Sastre TEAM CSC + 6'39
117 Kurt-Asle Arvesen TEAM CSC + 10'07
129 Christian Vandevelde TEAM CSC + 12'39
148 Chris Anker Sørensen TEAM CSC + 15'11
After putting the final touch on our Gent-Wevelgem preparations, we could again sit back at our hotel here in Belgium and watch the replay of today’s 2nd stage of the Basque Tour. Team spirit was really high here yesterday after watching Fränk taking a fantastic victory and to win the yellow jersey and Fábian looks really determined ahead of tomorrow’s classic.
Eurosport Commentator: Welcome to today’s stage of the Basque Tour, where we have another hill finish. The final climbs is a 6 km long and very steep climb and it’s going to be really interesting to see if Fränk Schleck can hold onto his yellow jersey, as we might see a lot of riders attacking him today.
At the last but final climb...
Eurosport Commentator: We still have a very big group here as we enter the last but final climb of the day. Look at this, here goes Kirchen, he’s off, Schleck is the only one to counter, but look at Kirchen he’s really strong here, Fränk can’t catch him and he has to sit down.
A bit longer up the climb...
Eurosport Commentator: Look at this, Schleck is gaining on Kirchen right now, but Riccó and Di Luca is also coming fast, they might just be able to catch up with Schleck and chase down Kirchen.
At the top...
Eurosport Commentator: So we have four guys together at the top of this climb. Race leader Schleck, Kim Kirchen, Ricardo Riccó and Danilo Di Luca and right now, somewhat 30 seconds back a 3-man group crosses with Davide Rebellin, Alexandre Vinokourov and Rinaldo Nocentini.
Entering the final climb...
Eurosport Commentator: Still we have this very strong quartet alone in front as we enter this very steep 6 km climb. Kirchen leads the way, with Schleck on his wheel. Riccó looks a bit in pain already, what can this young man do.
A few kilometres later...
Eurosport Commentator: Riccó goes to the front now. Kirchen seems tired he falls to last position in the group. Di Luca has also problems keeping up, but it’s Riccó with Fränk Schleck on his wheel. Di Luca and Kirchen still hanging on though. Back in the chasing group Vinokourov has been dropped by Rebellin and Nocentini and they are not way off the pace.
The final kilometer...
Eurosport Commentator: Riccó and Schleck has a small gap now to Di Luca and Kirchen, I don’t think they can come back. This is the home stretch now, Riccó accelerates and Schleck can’t follow the italian, Riccó is gonna take this, he’s on the last 100 metres now. Riccó wins ahead of Fränk Schleck. Di Luca is third and Kirchen is fourth, but both of them loses time on Schleck. Not much though as Kirchen will retain his second place.
Eurosport Commentator: That’s all for today, tomorrow we won’t be sending live from the Basque country because of the Gent-Wevelgem. Goodbye for now.
Basque Tour 2007 – Stage 2 Result | Urretxu > Karrantza – 191 km
1 Riccardo Riccò SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR 5h03'18
2 Frank Schleck TEAM CSC s.t.
3 Danilo Di Luca LIQUIGAS + 12
4 Kim Kirchen T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
5 Davide Rebellin GEROLSTEINER + 30
6 Rinaldo Nocentini AG2R PREVOYANCE s.t.
7 Alexandre Vinokourov ASTANA + 2'02
8 Franco Pellizotti LIQUIGAS + 3'03
9 Serge Baguet QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
10 Tadej Valjavec LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
11 Dario Cioni PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
12 Andrey Kashechkin ASTANA s.t.
13 Thomas Voeckler BOUYGUES TELECOM s.t.
14 Juan Manuel Gárate QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
15 Denis Menchov RABOBANK s.t.
16 Stefan Schumacher GEROLSTEINER s.t.
17 Janez Brajkovic DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
18 Josep Jufre Pou PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
19 Matthias Kessler ASTANA s.t.
20 Michael Rasmussen RABOBANK s.t. 28 Andy Schleck TEAM CSC s.t.
53 Nicki Sørensen TEAM CSC s.t.
67 David Zabriskie TEAM CSC + 4'41
70 Kurt-Asle Arvesen TEAM CSC + 4'57
80 Carlos Sastre TEAM CSC + 6'12
106 Christian Vandevelde TEAM CSC + 11'00
116 Chris Anker Sørensen TEAM CSC + 14'04
Team: Fábian Cancellara, Stuart O’Grady, Lars Michaelsen, Karsten Kroon, Allan Johansen, Marcus Ljungqvist, Michael Blaudzun and Luke Roberts.
The cobble season has almost come to an end, but before it do that we still have two races to race, as we aren’t participating in the Scheldeprijs Vlaanderen. Our primary objective is the Paris-Roubaix, but after the dissapointing results a few days ago in Tour of Flanders, our team leaders Fábian Cancellara and Stuart O’Grady looks really set to do something big today.
This race a short classics as it’s only 200 km across Flanders. But it’s a hard race. After 50 km the riders hit the first cobble section of the day and after 115 km they hit the second, before the pack with 60 km to for the first time hits the two climbs, Monteberg and Kemmelberg, that come in quick succesion. They cross them a second time, and after climbing Kemmelberg the second time, the last 30 km are flat with no cobble sections. At this point the peloton should be very small though.
After showing great form throughout the entire spring, ProTour leader Fillipo Pozzato was the man to beat today.
Surprisingly there were no early breaks today, so the pack stayed together over the two first cobble sections, before we with 85 km to go, took the front and upped the pace, in order to stay on top of the jostling for position, which was going to be inevidible just before Monteberg.
As a result of us setting a high pace ahead of the finale of this race, the became very strung out.
This worked as none of our guys got stuck in the jostling for position, meaning that we could lead up Monteberg, the not-cobbled climb, with our domestiques in front and Fábian and Stuey a bit behind them.
The CSC fans on Kemmelberg got something to cheer about as their team lead the way over this cobbled climb, which features a terribly dangerous descent.
As a result of our high pace up the Kemmelberg, the pack had split up, creating a 35-man group, which we and Quickstep could easily control as we drove a loop through the city of Kemmel, to start all over at Monteberg, for the last time. All the big favourites were still here, so we were still in for a unpredictable finale.
CSC and Quickstep looked strongest after passing the two main difficulties of Gent-Wevelgem for the first time of two.
It was the same deal as we hit the two climbs again, we took the front and put pressure on the other favourites by racing up the climbs as fast as possible. After Kemmelberg it payed off even more, as the group was now down to about 25 riders, who were still in for a shot. Unless someone could attack on the flat part towards Wevelgem this would be settled in a sprint between the guys left in the group and Boonen must be considered the biggest favourite to do so.
38-year old veteran and former Gent-Wevelgem Winner Lars Michaelsen turned up the heat at Kemmelberg to shake our opponents off the group.
Because of Lars Michaelsen’s pace on the Kemmelberg, he was the only helper back for Stuey and Fábian and in the team car we were right now discussing our approach to this finale. With Stuey’s form he’d be a fantastic guy in the sprint, but could he beat Boonen and Pozzato? He did it two time in Three Days at Panne, but you just can’t take a win over Tom Boonen for granted in any situation.
The pack was down to just 27 riders after Kemmelberg, so it looked as though we would have a bunch sprint to settle the race.
Last year Thor Hushovd won this race in a mass sprint, so actually it wouldn’t be a surprise to see that happen again. But after about 20 km of riding after Kemmelberg, Nick Nuyens and Juan Antonio Flecha took off, with Fábian, who was still feeling great, countered. Nick Nuyens overestimated himself as he quickly fell back to the pack, but Flecha and Cancellara got away and Cancellara actually got a gap to Flecha as he accelerated away from the group. With nine km to go it was Fábian in the front with 21 seconds on Flecha, who had 26” on the pack.
Cancellara and Flecha had enough in the tank to take off on the flat part into Wevelgem as they bursted away with 13 km to go.
But Flecha wasn’t to be counted out just yet as he with a sublime effort closed the gap on Cancellara with 3 km to go, just as they entered Wevelgem. At this point they had 30 seconds on the Boonen-Group, so it looked good for our swiss machine. Flecha locked in on Cancellara’s wheel as they hit the final kilometre as he was obviously exhausted after having closed the gap on him. Our only was now that it had cost too much for the spaniard, because otherwise he would be in a great position to take this win. Flecha actually finished 2nd in Gent-Wevelgem in 2005, but he should’ve won as the winner Nico Mattan was paced by a car in order to catch the spaniard, and eventually winning by 2 seconds.
Was this going to be Flecha’s turn now? Unlike Mattan in 2005 he’d done the catching up without any help, so it would be a very well-deserved win if he was to beat Cancellara, eventhough we didn’t hope he’d do it.
So Cancellara had to open the sprint with Flecha on his wheel and it was all shaping out perfectly for the spaniard.
Fábian wasn’t in a particularily good position coming into today’s finale of the 68th Gent-Wevelgem.
But Flecha was used and he couldn’t find the ressources to go past a flying Fábian Cancellara, who took his second win of the season after a fantastic ride. In the chasing pack, Stuey was the strongest as he finished few seconds after Flecha, to take the final podium spot and gain another fantastic result to his already impressive season record.
Fábian got his revenge after letting himself down in Tour of Flanders as he won Gent-Wevelgem ahead of Juan Antonio Flecha, who had to settle for another second place in this race.
1 Fabian Cancellara TEAM CSC 5h29'30
2 Juan Antonio Flecha RABOBANK s.t. 3 Stuart O'Grady TEAM CSC + 3
4 Tomas Vaitkus DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
5 Filippo Pozzato LIQUIGAS s.t.
6 Leon Van Bon RABOBANK s.t.
7 Peter Van Petegem QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
8 Magnus Backstedt LIQUIGAS s.t.
9 Alessandro Ballan LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
10 George Hincapie DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
11 Tom Boonen QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
12 Björn Leukemans PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
13 Leif Hoste PREDICTOR - LOTTO s.t.
14 Andreas Klier T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
15 Nick Nuyens COFIDIS s.t.
16 Gert Steegmans QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC s.t.
17 Steffen Wesemann TEAM WIESENHOF FELT s.t.
18 Staf Scheirlinckx COFIDIS s.t.
19 Roberto Petito LIQUIGAS s.t. 20 Lars Michaelsen TEAM CSC s.t.
37 Marcus Ljungqvist TEAM CSC + 5'32
38 Karsten Kroon TEAM CSC s.t.
39 Allan Johansen TEAM CSC s.t.
76 Michael Blaudzun TEAM CSC + 15'30
128 Luke Roberts TEAM CSC + 15'54
Super-Cancellara flew to victory in Gent-Wevelgem to move comfortably into the top ten of the ProTour Rankings.
Basque Tour | Stage 3
As we were occupied by Gent-Wevelgem today we couldn’t watch today’s stage of the Basque Tour, but it didn’t end very good for us either as Fränk had an off-day and lost his yellow jersey to Kim Kirchen. He still 2nd in the GC though, so we’re not counting him out just yet and as we travel to Compiegne, the start city in the Paris-Roubaix, tomorrow we should be able to catch the replay of tomorrow’s stage if our french hotel can pick up a signal.
Basque Tour 2007 – Stage 3 Result | Karrantza > Victoria-Gasteiz – 173 km
1 Cédric Vasseur QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC 4h00'27
2 David Moncoutié COFIDIS s.t.
3 Rinaldo Nocentini AG2R PREVOYANCE + 25
4 Kim Kirchen T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
5 Davide Rebellin GEROLSTEINER + 58
6 Xavier Florencio BOUYGUES TELECOM s.t.
7 Riccardo Riccò SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
8 Andrey Kashechkin ASTANA s.t.
9 Tadej Valjavec LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
10 Constantino Zaballa CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 1'20 14 Frank Schleck TEAM CSC s.t.
15 Nicki Sørensen TEAM CSC s.t.
49 Kurt-Asle Arvesen TEAM CSC + 3'37
55 Andy Schleck TEAM CSC s.t.
85 Carlos Sastre TEAM CSC + 11'00
88 David Zabriskie TEAM CSC + 13'38
101 Christian Vandevelde TEAM CSC + 14'38
134 Chris Anker Sørensen TEAM CSC + 15'49
Basque Tour 2007 – Stage 3 | GC
1 Kim Kirchen T-MOBILE TEAM 12h54'04
2 Frank Schleck TEAM CSC + 31
3 Rinaldo Nocentini AG2R PREVOYANCE + 56
4 Davide Rebellin GEROLSTEINER + 1'02
5 Riccardo Riccò SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 1'07
6 Danilo Di Luca LIQUIGAS + 1'41
7 Cédric Vasseur QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 2'52
8 Andrey Kashechkin ASTANA + 4'10
9 Tadej Valjavec LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
10 Xavier Florencio BOUYGUES TELECOM s.t. 14 Nicki Sørensen TEAM CSC + 4'32
35 Andy Schleck TEAM CSC + 6'49
72 Kurt-Asle Arvesen TEAM CSC + 17'52
83 David Zabriskie TEAM CSC + 21'18
86 Carlos Sastre TEAM CSC + 23'02
114 Christian Vandevelde TEAM CSC + 37'28
127 Chris Anker Sørensen TEAM CSC + 44'15
Here are the ProTour Standings updated after Gent-Wevelgem and first three stages of the Basque Tour.
ProTour | Individual Standings
1 Filippo Pozzato LIQUIGAS 117
2 Björn Leukemans PREDICTOR – LOTTO 86 3 Fränk Schleck TEAM CSC 82
4 Sámuel Sánchez G. EUSKALTEL – EUSKADI 60
5 Paolo Bettini QUICKSTEP – INNERGETIC 56 6 Fábian Cancellara TEAM CSC 52
7 Juan Antonio Flecha RABOBANK 50
8 Rinaldo Nocentini AG2R PREVOYANCE 42
9 John Gadret AG2R PREVOYANCE 42
10 Andreas Klier T-MOBILE 40 12 Karsten Kroon TEAM CSC 39
13 Jens Voigt TEAM CSC 38
18 Stuart O’Grady TEAM CSC 28
So we’re in Compiegne now, waiting for the Paris-Roubaix to get underway as we test Aremberg, Carrefour de Labre and the rest of the cobble sections, so we’re completely ready for Sunday’s ultimate cobbler clash. We didn’t practice much today as we arrived late here in Compiegne after leaving Belgium this morning. But we did catch the Basque Tour replay at the hotel.
Eurosport Commentator: Good afternoon and welcome to the 4th stage of the Basque Tour. We’ve come in to the race with a shade under 40 km to go and this situation right now is this: A strong group of 12 riders is leading the race with more than 7 minutes on the pack. Now the interesting thing is that in this group we have a virtual GC leader as it is right now. It’s CSC’s Andy Schleck, who was just under 7 minutes behind when we took off this morning. The group also contain other strong names as, Michael Rasmussen, Cristian Moreni, Andrea Noe, Igor Anton and Rigoberto Uran.
Eurosport Commentator: The leading group is now entering the last but final climb today, is not very long and not very steep either, so they should be able to stay together here. The finish will be interesting though as the road begins rising with 15 to go, but the last 8 will be the steepest though.
Eurosport Commentator: It’s very interesting that T-Mobile is giving this breakaway so much slack. But if you look at their startlist, they really don’t have a very strong team to compete in this terrain, but Saunier-Duval is also pulling the pack here as they don’t want to risk Ricardo Riccó’s GC aspirations.
Eurosport Commentator: 15 km to go and the breakaway still leads by 4 minutes, this is gonna be between them to settle this stage. Michael Rasmussen attacks! No one counters and he gets a gap immediately. Pretty odd that he’s attacking on the not so steep part of climb.
The last 7 km – The Steep Part...
Eurosport Commentator: Oh! He must’ve over extended himself this time. Rasmussen is reeled in by Igor Anton who’s tearing apart this leading group. It’s Igor Anton leading with Schleck, who’s gonna move into the top ten with this effort, on his wheel. Rasmussen isn’t gone yet as he’s right behind Schleck. Also Eladio Jimenez and Stephane Goubert are looking good at the front here.
Eurosport Commentator: Schleck attacks! Look at this acceleration, Rasmuseen tries to counter but he’s all used up and Schleck has got a gap now, with 6 km to go. Igor Anton stops his relay he doesn’t want to do all the work as Cristian Moreni takes over the chase.
3 km to go for Schleck...
Eurosport Commentator: Andy still leading here and I just don’t think they can chase him down. He’s got about 20 seconds on the chasing group here, where Rasmussen has taken over the initiative.
Meanwhile in the pack...
Eurosport Commentator: Riccó tries to escape now, Rebellin, Fränk Schleck and Kim Kirchen counters him and they are moving away from the pack. They can’t win today as they still have more than 3 minutes to Andy Schleck, and I don’t think Fränk Schleck is interested in reeling in his brother, who’s very close at his biggest career win ever.
The Flame Rouge...
Eurosport Commentator: Here he comes on the last 1000 metres, it’s Andy Schleck, with Michael Rasmussen, Stephane Goubert and Eladio Jimenez chasing him. But he looks strong this young Schleck fella, I don’t think they can catch him. It’s flatting out a bit and he still has 20 seconds on them, so he is going to win today. Here he is, Andy Schleck wins the 4th stage of the Basque Tour, what a remarkable breakthrough he’s made today. I mean, we’ve heard thing about him from Fränk and his father, but today he let his own legs do the talking, this is brilliant.
Eurosport Commentator: Almost 2’30” has gone now, and here comes a group Rebellin, Riccó and Schleck in it, crossing 2’30” behind Andy Schleck. Fränk makes a fist as he crosses the finish line, to hail this incredible performance by his little brother. Kirchen loses time on Schleck today, he finish 19 seconds after Schleck, meaning that he onle has 12 seconds on him in the GC.
Eurosport Commentator: What a Schleck-domination here today. Tomorrow’s stage will be the last chance to gain some time for the GC riders ahead of the crucial time trial on the 6th stage. Goodbye for now, see you tomorrow.
Basque Tour 2007 – Stage 4 Result | Vitoria-Gasteiz > Lekunberri – 176 km
1 Andy Schleck TEAM CSC 4h19'21
2 Michael Rasmussen RABOBANK + 16
3 Eladio Jiménez KARPIN - GALICIA s.t.
4 Stéphane Goubert AG2R PREVOYANCE s.t.
5 Addy Engels QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 32
6 Sergio Ghisalberti TEAM MILRAM + 53
7 Andrea Noe LIQUIGAS s.t.
8 Cristian Moreni COFIDIS + 1'08
9 J. M. Elías Galindo RELAX - GAM + 1'25
10 Igor Anton H. EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 1'49
11 Davide Rebellin GEROLSTEINER + 2'30
12 Riccardo Riccò SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t. 13 Frank Schleck TEAM CSC s.t.
14 Kim Kirchen T-MOBILE TEAM + 2'49
15 Xavier Florencio BOUYGUES TELECOM s.t.
16 Rigoberto Uran UNIBET.COM s.t.
17 Matthias Kessler ASTANA + 3'16
18 Damiano Cunego LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
19 Alejandro Valverde CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
20 Franco Pellizotti LIQUIGAS s.t. 52 Nicki Sørensen TEAM CSC s.t.
70 Carlos Sastre TEAM CSC + 4'10
91 David Zabriskie TEAM CSC + 4'53
99 Christian Vandevelde TEAM CSC + 5'28
100 Kurt-Asle Arvesen TEAM CSC s.t.
147 Chris Anker Sørensen TEAM CSC + 10'33
Basque Tour 2007 – Stage 4 | GC
1 Kim Kirchen T-MOBILE TEAM 17h16'14
2 Frank Schleck TEAM CSC + 12
3 Davide Rebellin GEROLSTEINER + 43
4 Riccardo Riccò SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 48
5 Rinaldo Nocentini AG2R PREVOYANCE + 1'23
6 Danilo Di Luca LIQUIGAS + 2'08
7 Cédric Vasseur QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 3'19 8 Andy Schleck TEAM CSC + 4'00
9 Xavier Florencio BOUYGUES TELECOM + 4'10
10 Tadej Valjavec LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 4'37
11 Andrey Kashechkin ASTANA s.t.
12 Constantino Zaballa CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 4'59
13 Axel Merckx T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
14 Janez Brajkovic DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
15 Alberto Contador DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
16 Samuel Sánchez G. EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI s.t. 17 Nicki Sørensen TEAM CSC s.t.
18 Alexandre Vinokourov ASTANA + 5'10
19 Matthias Kessler ASTANA + 5'20
20 Franco Pellizotti LIQUIGAS s.t. 75 Kurt-Asle Arvesen TEAM CSC + 20'31
81 David Zabriskie TEAM CSC + 23'22
84 Carlos Sastre TEAM CSC + 24'23
114 Christian Vandevelde TEAM CSC + 40'07
130 Chris Anker Sørensen TEAM CSC + 51'59Edited by niconico on 14-09-2007 17:31
Eurosport Commentator: Welcome to the final but last stage of this year’s edition of the Basque Tour. We are facing a great finale as Kirchen, the race leader, showed signs of weakness in yesterdays showdown versus 2nd in the GC, Fränk Schleck. Judging from the profile I wouldn’t bet on the favourites to do a whole lot of racing here, as they want to pace themselves ahead of tomorrow’s crucial time trial. We’ve got a breakaway duo away on today’s stage and they will most likely come through as T-Mobile doesn’t look interested in catching them and with 50 km to of today’s stage they lead the pack by over 12 minutes, meaning that Thomas Voeckler, one of the riders in break is the virtual leader of the race. He’s riding with Matteo Carrara of Unibet.com.
Eurosport Commentator: Looks like Matteo Carrara has ridden away from Voeckler and the frenchman really looks worn out, as he has hit the wall just ahead of the final climb today. The riders have actually been over the summit of the Alto de Jaizkabel, which features every year in Clasica San Sebastian. Matteo Carrara has now hit the final climb, which tops with 18 km back of the stage.
Eurosport Commentator: CSC seems to have begun taking part in the chase now as they take the front with some of their riders, I see Nicki Sørensen at the front with Andy and Fränk just behind him, also Zabriskie is there.
Eurosport Commentator: You can really see in the way Carrara is pedalling that he’s used, luckily he has still got about 4 minutes on the pack with 10 km to go, but it’s really coming down fast the gap.
On the home stretch...
Eurosport Commentator: Here comes Carrara, I think he’s just gonna edge them out today, but they can see him now. Nocentini and Zaballa look to be the strongest in the pack as they are coming fast for Carrara.
On the finishing line...
Eurosport Commentator: He does it! Matteo Carrara barely wins the stage ahead of his countryman Rinaldo Nocentini, what a great ride by the lad. We had Kirchen and Carlos Sastre in a crash here in the finale, but they won’t lose any time as they were on the last 3 km. It would have been a shame for this race if Kirchen was to lose his lead now. Let’s just hope he’s okay and ready for tomorrow, where we will bring you the final stage from the Basque Tour. Live. Goodbye for now.
Basque Tour 2007 – Stage 5 Result | Lekunberri > Oiartzun – 169 km
1 Matteo Carrara UNIBET.COM 4h33'34
2 Rinaldo Nocentini AG2R PREVOYANCE s.t.
3 Constantino Zaballa CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
4 Danilo Di Luca LIQUIGAS s.t.
5 Ángel Vicioso RELAX - GAM s.t.
6 Stefan Schumacher GEROLSTEINER s.t.
7 Xavier Florencio BOUYGUES TELECOM s.t.
8 Davide Rebellin GEROLSTEINER s.t.
9 Alejandro Valverde CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
10 Riccardo Riccò SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t. 16 Frank Schleck TEAM CSC s.t.
17 Nicki Sørensen TEAM CSC s.t.
20 Kurt-Asle Arvesen TEAM CSC s.t.
35 David Zabriskie TEAM CSC s.t.
37 Andy Schleck TEAM CSC s.t.
46 Christian Vandevelde TEAM CSC s.t.
56 Kim Kirchen T-MOBILE TEAM s.t. 69 Carlos Sastre TEAM CSC s.t.
91 Chris Anker Sørensen TEAM CSC s.t.
Basque Tour 2007 – Stage 5 | GC
1 Kim Kirchen T-MOBILE TEAM 17h16'14
2 Frank Schleck TEAM CSC + 12
3 Davide Rebellin GEROLSTEINER + 43
4 Riccardo Riccò SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 48
5 Rinaldo Nocentini AG2R PREVOYANCE + 1'23
6 Danilo Di Luca LIQUIGAS + 2'08
7 Cédric Vasseur QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 3'19 8 Andy Schleck TEAM CSC + 4'00
9 Xavier Florencio BOUYGUES TELECOM + 4'10
10 Tadej Valjavec LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 4'37 13 Nicki Sørensen TEAM CSC s.t.
75 Kurt-Asle Arvesen TEAM CSC + 20'31
81 David Zabriskie TEAM CSC + 23'22
84 Carlos Sastre TEAM CSC + 24'23
114 Christian Vandevelde TEAM CSC + 40'07
130 Chris Anker Sørensen TEAM CSC + 51'59
Eurosport Commentator: Welcome to the final day from this year’s Basque Tour, and a what a final day this is gonna be. Two riders are going to fight this out. Two riders from Luxembourg actually. So we will most likely see the first luxembourgian overall GC win in the history of this race today. The two guys fighting out are Kim Kirchen and Fränk Schleck. Kirchen has yet to win this season, while Fränk collected two stage wins in Paris-Nice in addition to the GC win and after that he won the small belgian one-day race Brabantse Pijl. None of these guys are renouned for the time trial abilities, but the fact that this will be a very hilly time trial, favours them a bit more.
Eurosport Commentator: We’re now recieving our live fee from today’s stage, just in time to see the top twenty take off. Right now, it’s Caisse D’Epargne maybe aspiring Tour-Winner Oscar Pereiro who’s leading at the intermediate time.
Stefan Schumacher at the intermediate post...
Eurosport Commentator: Schumacher is going fast here, he’s clocked the best time so far.
Eurosport Commentator: And he has managed to keep up Schumacher here as he finishes the final stage 25 seconds faster than Oscar Pereiro. Great job for the german, who must be considered a favourite in Ardennes Classics that begins next weekend.
Eurosport Commentator: Here comes Alejandro Valverde, he’s near the intermediate time right now. Even if he should win today I think he’ll be quite dissapointed with his performance in this race. He’s normally looking to do well here, but I’m sure he’ll be at his peak in the Ardennes. He’s actually going pretty fast as he sets the second best time, just a few seconds slower than Schumacher.
A bit later...
Eurosport Commentator: One of the big surprises of this tour, Nicki Sørensen nearing the intermediate time, he’s managed 13th in the GC before this stage which is a really good result for him. He crosses in 54th.
Valverde nearing the finishing line...
Eurosport Commentator: Lets see if he has kept his pace. He’s looking good right now, pedalling very smoothly still. It’s very hard finish as the line is at the top of an about 700 m long climb, which can really kill you if you have used too much energy. But Valverde has paced himself as he crosses in 2nd, 17 seconds slower than Schumacher.
Eurosport Commentator: Thomas Dekker is close to the finish now aswell he had the fastest intermediate time, so lets see if he has any energy left here. Well no doubt about it, he’s rode a fantastic time trial as he crosses in the best time, beating Schumacher by 12 seconds. I can’t see who should challenge him now. Vinokourov might be the only one capable of doing so.
Eurosport Commentator: Here he comes the kazakh. He was a bit behind at the intermediate timer, but don’t count him out just yet, he’s on the final couple hundred metres now, but he can’t beat Schumacher, he clocks third fastest time, 24 seconds slower than Dekker.
Fränk Schleck takes off...
Eurosport Commentator: Moment of truth now. Can Schleck beat Kirchen by 12 seconds or is it too much of a task for him.
Kim Kirchen leaves the start ramp...
Eurosport Commentator: That’s it. All riders have been sent off, there’s about 20 minutes left of the 2007 Basque Tour, and it’ll be a showdown between these two guys.
At the intermediate timer...
Eurosport Commentator: Schleck crosses in a great time, he’s 6th here. He must really have increased his time trial skills in the off-season, because he’s really become a capable time trialist. We also saw that in Paris-Nice, where he finished 9th on the prologue. Here comes Kirchen, oh he has lost time on Schleck. Kirchen is 21 seconds slower than Dekker, while Schleck is 12 seconds slower, meaning that Kirchen only leads by 3 seconds in the GC right now, with 6 km to go. This is going to be tight.
At the final kilometre...
Eurosport Commentator: Here’s Schleck and he has really been powering round this course, just look at the expression on his face, he really wants this. Here he comes, last 100 metres, it’s a fantastic time by Schleck, he’s third, 17 seconds slower than Dekker. Kirchen really needs to open up now.
Eurosport Commentator: Kirchen on the last 300 metres. He has 15 seconds to cross that line otherwise, Fränk Schleck will win. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0, Kim Kirchen has lost the Basque Tour, with just over 100 metres to go. Tragedy for the luxembourgian. Here he crosses, losing 24 seconds on Schleck on this stage, meaning that the 12-seconds advantage he had on Schleck before the stage has been turned upside down.
Eurosport Commentator: That’s what we had to show you from this year’s Basque Tour. See you next year for more Basque fun, but tune in again tomorrow where we’ll be broadcasting live all day from Paris-Roubaix. Until then, take care.
Basque Tour 2007 – Stage 6 Result | Oiartzun > Oiartzun – 14 km
1 Thomas Dekker RABOBANK 20'03
2 Stefan Schumacher GEROLSTEINER + 12 3 Frank Schleck TEAM CSC + 17
4 Alexandre Vinokourov ASTANA + 24
5 Andrey Kashechkin ASTANA + 28
6 Alejandro Valverde CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 29
7 Oscar Pereiro CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 32
8 Rik Verbrugghe COFIDIS + 33
9 Riccardo Riccò SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 36
10 Luis León Sánchez CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 39
11 Rinaldo Nocentini AG2R PREVOYANCE s.t.
12 Davide Rebellin GEROLSTEINER + 40
13 Levi Leipheimer DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 41
14 Kim Kirchen T-MOBILE TEAM s.t.
15 José G. Marchante SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 44
16 Janez Brajkovic DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t.
17 Bradley Mc Gee FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 45
18 Marzio Bruseghin LAMPRE - FONDITAL s.t.
19 Thomas Lövkvist FRANÇAISE DES JEUX + 47
20 Alberto Contador DISCOVERY CHANNEL s.t. 32 Andy Schleck TEAM CSC + 56
34 Christian Vandevelde TEAM CSC + 59
42 David Zabriskie TEAM CSC + 1'02
47 Carlos Sastre TEAM CSC + 1'04
51 Kurt-Asle Arvesen TEAM CSC + 1'06
54 Nicki Sørensen TEAM CSC + 1'08
107 Chris Anker Sørensen TEAM CSC + 1'37
47th Basque Tour – Stage 6 | Final GC
1 Frank Schleck TEAM CSC 22h10'20
2 Kim Kirchen T-MOBILE TEAM + 12
3 Davide Rebellin GEROLSTEINER + 54
4 Riccardo Riccò SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR + 55
5 Rinaldo Nocentini AG2R PREVOYANCE + 1'21
6 Danilo Di Luca LIQUIGAS + 2'46
7 Cédric Vasseur QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC + 3'59 8 Andy Schleck TEAM CSC + 4'27
9 Xavier Florencio BOUYGUES TELECOM + 4'28
10 Andrey Kashechkin ASTANA + 4'36
11 Thomas Dekker RABOBANK + 4'51
12 Alexandre Vinokourov ASTANA + 5'05
13 Tadej Valjavec LAMPRE - FONDITAL + 5'08
14 Janez Brajkovic DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 5'14
15 Alberto Contador DISCOVERY CHANNEL + 5'17
16 Constantino Zaballa CAISSE D'EPARGNE s.t.
17 Samuel Sánchez G. EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI + 5'22 18 Nicki Sørensen TEAM CSC + 5'38
19 Alejandro Valverde CAISSE D'EPARGNE + 5'41
20 Axel Merckx T-MOBILE TEAM s.t. 68 Kurt-Asle Arvesen TEAM CSC + 21'08
76 David Zabriskie TEAM CSC + 23'55
78 Carlos Sastre TEAM CSC + 24'58
109 Christian Vandevelde TEAM CSC + 40'37
123 Chris Anker Sørensen TEAM CSC + 53'07
Basque Tour 2007 – Stage 6 | Points Competition
1 Frank Schleck TEAM CSC 60
2 Riccardo Riccò SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR 54
3 Davide Rebellin GEROLSTEINER 53
4 Rinaldo Nocentini AG2R PREVOYANCE 52
5 Kim Kirchen T-MOBILE TEAM 49
6 Danilo Di Luca LIQUIGAS 34
7 Alexandre Vinokourov ASTANA 29
8 Franco Pellizotti LIQUIGAS 27 9 Andy Schleck TEAM CSC 25
10 Xavier Florencio BOUYGUES TELECOM 24
Basque Tour 2007 – Stage 6 | King of the Mountains
1 Thomas Voeckler BOUYGUES TELECOM 40
2 Matteo Carrara UNIBET.COM 35
3 J. M. Elías Galindo RELAX - GAM 27 4 Andy Schleck TEAM CSC 26
5 Kim Kirchen T-MOBILE TEAM 25
6 Riccardo Riccò SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR 22 7 Frank Schleck TEAM CSC 20
8 Rik Verbrugghe COFIDIS 19
9 Rigoberto Uran UNIBET.COM 18
10 Simon Gerrans AG2R PREVOYANCE 18
Ricardo Riccó won best young rider and we won the teams classification ahead of Liquigas.
So a really great race for as we won again obviously. I don’t really know as I didn’t experience this first-hand, but I don’t think that we had those expectations for Fränk Schleck, but frankly we didn’t have that in Paris-Nice either. Usually he collects top tens in these races, but this year he has just stepped his form up a notch about a month earlier than he uses two and that had given him the overall victory in Paris-Nice and Basque Tour, plus a reclaim of the ProTour jersey. Also it was great to see Andy perform so well with a fantastic stage win and finishing 8th in the GC. We’re beginning to hope that he could do something in the Giro, but to what extend, we have no idea yet.
Fränk Schleck has been the absolute star of the 2007 season so far having won Paris-Nice and the Basque Tour.
Tour de Georgia
The Tour de Georgia also got off today. Here’s how the first stage ended.
Tour de Georgia – Stage 1 Result | Peachtree City > Macon – 96 miles
1 Stefano Zanini PREDICTOR - LOTTO 4h41'07
2 Kyle Gritters HEALTH NET - MAXXIS s.t.
3 Alberto Loddo SELLE ITALIA - SARRAMENTI PVC DIQUIGIOVANNI s.t.
4 Nikolai Trussov TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS s.t.
5 Oleg Grishkine NAVIGATORS INSURANCE s.t.
6 Manuele Mori SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
7 Ruggero Marzoli TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS s.t.
8 Ricardo Serrano G. TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS s.t.
9 Viktor Rapinski NAVIGATORS INSURANCE s.t.
10 Jackson Stewart BMC Racing Team s.t. 12 Juan José Haedo TEAM CSC s.t.
15 Luke Roberts TEAM CSC s.t.
23 Lars Ytting Bak TEAM CSC s.t.
37 Matthew Goss TEAM CSC s.t.
43 Martin Pedersen TEAM CSC s.t.
67 Alexandr Kolobnev TEAM CSC s.t.
Tour de Georgia – Stage 1 | GC
1 Stefano Zanini PREDICTOR - LOTTO 4h40'47
2 Kyle Gritters HEALTH NET - MAXXIS + 8
3 Alberto Loddo SELLE ITALIA - SARRAMENTI PVC DIQUIGIOVANNI + 12
4 Martin Pedersen TEAM CSC + 14
5 Ciaran Power NAVIGATORS INSURANCE + 16
6 Robert Mclachlan DRAPAC PORSCHE + 18
7 Nikolai Trussov TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS + 20
8 Oleg Grishkine NAVIGATORS INSURANCE s.t.
9 Manuele Mori SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR s.t.
10 Ruggero Marzoli TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS s.t.
Edited by niconico on 15-09-2007 20:49
I've given this some thought, do you think it would be better for the story if I cranked up the difficulty level a notch, because the fact that I win so much could make this a bit monotenous.
